1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a fishing lure that can be clamped onto objects of interest; particularly, a fishing lure that can be secured to the fishing rod or other fishing items both while attached and detached from the fishing line.
2. Background of the Invention
Fishermen have long sought a way to protect the fishing lure and themselves during the storage and the transport of the lure tied to the fishing line from one fishing site to another. A fishing lure swinging freely may become entangled in an undesirable foreign object or, even worse, the fisherman. The lure poses a danger both to the fisherman and to others in proximity to the lure.
Traditionally, fishermen will hook the lure onto an eyelet of the fishing rod and then tighten the line to safely secure the lure to the rod. Alternatively, problems with conveniently storing and transporting fishing lures have been combated by attaching a lure holder to the fisherman's belt or attaching some type of fishing lure retention device to the fishing rod.
A problem with the traditional method of hooking the lure to the eyelet of the fishing rod and then tightening the line is that this method will commonly damage the eyelet of the fishing rod.
The more recent approach of attaching a lure holder to the fisherman's belt also has disadvantages: it adds another piece of equipment to the expedition; it requires the lure to be detached from the fishing line; and it may be inconvenient when fishing while wading in the water.
Other fishermen have attached the fishing lure to the fishing poles using a retention device located on the fishing pole itself. Recent attempts of such devices include U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,775 to Daughtry and U.S. Pat. No. 5,448,851 to Nyberg. Daughtry discloses a fishing lure holder that locks to the fishing rod. Nyberg discloses a device that retains the fishing lure by locking it between the end of a screw and the upper wall of a tubular member connected to the fishing rod. However, in both cases, the retention devices add extra weight to the rod and cause the rod to be bulky. In addition, neither invention allows the fishing lures to be secured to objects other than a fishing rod.
Prior art measures to overcome some of the problems have never incorporated such safety and convenience measures into the fishing lures themselves, nor has any patent incorporated a clamp or clip into the fishing lure design. The present invention is a novel approach to the problems associated with the storage of lures and the transportation of lures to and from the fishing site.